Of car wheels upon grades



(No Model.) I

F. H. WHEELOGK. MEANS EOE PREVENTING SLIPPING 0E GAR WHEELS UPON GRADES.

No. 601,296. Patented Mar.29, 1898.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I FRANK H. WHEELOOK, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE W. WALSH, OF SAME PLACE.

.MEANS FOR PREVENTING SLIPPING F CAR-WHEELS UPON GRADES.

' SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 601,296, dated March 29, 1898.

Application filed January 15, 1897. Serial No. 619,398. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK H. WHEELOCK, of St. Paul, Ramsey county, Minnesota, have invented certain Improvements in Means for Preventing Slipping of Car Wheels upon Grades, of which the following is a specification. t

My invention relates to improvements in means for preventing the slipping of carwheels upon grades.

To this end my invention consists in arranging upon'the grades of the road-bed a pair of toothed rails or racks adapted to engage with cog-wheels upon the car-truck axle, thus form- I 5 ing a positive inter-meshing connection. I also arrange upon the road-bed an additional pair of track-rails and provide the car-truck withan additional set of wheels adapted to run upon said rails, thewheels and rails being so arranged that the main truck-wheels will be lifted off from and remain freeof the main rails until the end of the grade is reached.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a crosssection of the road-bed, showing a car-truck and my features of invention; and Fig. 2 is a conventional view showing the toothed rail or rack engaging with a cog-wheel upon the- 0 car-truck.

In the drawings, 2 represents the ordinary rails arranged'in the road-bed A. Arranged inside the rails 2 upon the road-bed are suitable beams 3, upon which are secured a pair 5 of rails 4 and a parallel toothed railor rack 5, provided with teeth 6. The beams 3 are siderably higher level than the main rails 2,

so that as the car travels up or down the incline the main wheels 8 are lifted from their tracks, the lower and upper ends of the inner tracksbeinginclined, so as to gradually lift the car. As the supplemental wheels 10 begin to ride upon the inner rails 4: the cog-- wheels 9 will engage, as shown,with the track 5. Slipping of the wheels upon the rails is thus prevented while the car is traveling up the incline, since the cog-wheels will not be freed from the racks until the end of the rack at the top of the incline is reached. 5 5- This invention is particularly adapted for use in electric street-car systems. A frequent source of trouble in the ordinary electric street-car systems is the slipping of the truck- Wheels upon the track in traveling .up or down grades when the brakes are set, especially when there is a film of ice upon the rails. With my invention this trouble is entirely obviated. When the brakes are set, thecar is compelled to remain stationary by reason of the gears upon the axle intermesh ing with the racks.

'What I therefore claim as new is-- The combination with the main track-rails, of the elevated racks adjacent thereto, the supplemental rails 4, between and adjacent to the racks, and the truck-axles having the main wheels on the outer ends, the cog-Wheels on the axle at opposite ends adjacent the main wheels, and the supplemental wheel 10 at the side of the cog-wheels, substantially as described.

' In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK H. WHEELOOK. 

